With Hope and Effort
by public static void
Summary: Padma had seen his Mark, she had cried over the black ink that radiated dark energy and left his forearm cramping with magic that hurt like nothing else could. For TrueBeliever831.


Birthday fic for **TrueBeliever831** , participating in the Birthday Fic Exchange. It's a little late, but here it is and I sincerely hope you like it :D

Prompts: Male!Minor character/Female!Minor character / She saw something more in him, something light, something human. / dancing in the rain.

The translation here was done with Google Translate, don't hang me for it.

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Whenever the professors called for a team of mixed-house members, Padma and Theo gravitated to one another. Sometimes they worked alone, and sometimes they were joined by her friends or his classmates; more than once, they shared work and laughter and maybe a glass of firewhiskey with shy Lisa Turpin and below-average Gregory. No one ever told them to stop, not even now that the Carrow siblings tried hard to make cruel killing-machines out of them.

"Do you think people even realize we're friends?" Padma asked him one time, as they shared a cup of steaming peppermint tea in an abandoned classroom, watching the snowflakes fall over the castle grounds, hearing the sound of the wind sneaking through the crevices of the walls. "It's not as if we flaunt it, but... We've been friends for more than five years."

Theo snorted into his tea. "People only care for the bold and the loud. We are often overlooked."

"Yes, but not everyone is as blind as, say, my sister."

To that, Theo nodded. He knew Parvati from an assignment last year, and was thankful that she and Padma prefered to keep their distance while at school, because while Padma spoke of the universe and humanity and the real, genetic aspect of magic, Parvati went on and on about gossip and divination. He didn't dismiss divination as most did, for magic was magic and all of its forms had power, but the things they taught about at this school...

"So, what do you think?" she prompted him again, setting her cup on the windowsill and standing from the rickety chair she was sat on. Theo took the opportunity to observe her, to really take on all the details from her being. Padma exuded a quiet confidence that could obliterate the anxiety she so often felt, and the current conversation took another meaning then, as Theo thought of the affliction she suffered.

"Does it worry you?" he questioned, standing up too and resting against the wall beside the window. The stone was chill, and he wondered when was the last time the heating charms were restored in that particular classroom. "Are you nervous about what they think of us?"

She shrugs, but he can see through the gesture. The way she stiffened and how her eyes seemed to avoid looking anywhere, as if trying to become one with the falling snow to merge in the never-ending whiteness, told him what he needed to know more than her words could.

"I just mean, with all that's been going on and the professors being... You know."

"Death Eaters," he finished for her, resentment dripping from his voice. He, too, set his almost empty tea cup on the windowsill and turned to look at Padma. Her lower lip trembled in that infuriating way he hated so much, for it usually meant she was not being quite honest. "Like my father."

"But not like you, right?"

He sighed. As always, she sounded hopeful, and he hated that too, but at least she was speaking her mind and not keeping her thoughts to herself.

Padma had seen his Mark, she had cried over the black ink that radiated dark energy and left his forearm cramping with magic that hurt like nothing else could. However, that was not what she tried to say, and Theo knew it.

"It's compelling, the dark magic. You have tasted it yourself in class, now," he told her. "But this is not dark magic. This is pure evil taken form and trying to corrupt everything I am. I can fight it because I do not delude myself into thinking the same others do. I know the Dark Lord is evil and does not care for any other living being. I am not his loyal servant. I was forced to take the Mark just so my father could live. So we could live."

Theo smiled sadly when she grabbed his hand and caressed it softly. He didn't answer that honestly to anyone else, but Padma had something he couldn't ignore. She saw something more in him, something light, something human. Whenever she was with him, Theo saw it, too.

"We will get through this, Theodore."

He shook his head, smiling bitterly. "Always the optimistic one," he told her.

"Someone has to keep hoping," she answered before picking up her cup and sipping her surely cold tea. "As long as there is hope, we can fight everything."

Theo wasn't completely sold on that idea. His father told him to never hope, and always act; to act to get what he wanted. Padma almost made him hope, but then again, what he wanted was something he had been working on since he realized he needed it. It was not pure hope, but effort, too.

"I have something for you," he said, making another effort. "You said you had been looking around to get your wand in the spell of the Great Hall and found nothing, right?"

"Right," she answered, and Theo saw once again the hope on her eyes. She was smart and knew he had the spell, and the curiosity painted on all her features was almost lovely.

" _Tekevät taivas kaunis, osoittavat heijastus ulkomaailman_."

His words were acompanied by the calculated movements of his wand, first in a circular motion above his head, then a downward swirl, and an almost imperceptible flick of his wrist. Theo had practiced for this for a week, and he hoped it worked because making fool of himself in front of Padma did not hold any appeal.

He could see the marvel on her brown eyes as a snowflake danced its way from the now cloudy cealing to the floor before dissolving in a moment. He allowed himself a smile when more snowflakes came down and Padma began to clap her hands excitedly.

His eyes glowed as Padma twirled around the room. "Lengthy incantation," she mumbled, eyes closed and hands extended to her sides. Theo saw traces of the dance lessons she had as a kid in the graceful flow of her body as she moved around. "I could shorten it, given the written form of the spell. What language was that? I don't recognize it."

He laughed quietly before stepping into her impromptu dance and holding her waist and her hand. Padma opened her eyes and smiled as they began the steps of a simple ballroom dance they had shared during the Yule Ball, three years past.

"It's Finnish," Theo answered her question in a whisper. "Along with Irish, Finnish is considered one of the most beautiful languages to enchant. I was planning on giving you The Charming Book of Little Enchantments for Yule this year. There you will find the incantation, the wand movements, and all the theory you might wish."

"You know me so well, Theodore," she told him, grinning madly as they danced amidst the snowflakes.

"More than I know myself," he shared almost without thinking, relishing the blush that invaded her cheeks and the even bigger smile she gave him.

They danced without music for a while longer, until the melted snowflakes began to make their way into the fabric of their robes. Theo looked to the ceiling, and then through the window: the sky outside was getting darker by the minute and the snow fell heavier.

"This shouldn't happen," he said analytically. "The snow was not supposed to be this real."

Padma laughed, making Theo laugh in turn. "I don't think a simple _Finite_ will work on this."

"We can always go away and never get back," Theo proposed. "Leave all this snow behind, and remake our lives in a safer place."

Padma stopped laughing, and he blamed himself for bringing back her dark thoughts.

"We will be alright, Padma," he said, holding her hands and sounding more confident than he felt. "All this will end and we will be better than ever."

She leaned on him, and Theo closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling of her body against his. He could feel her magic reaching out to him, and wondered if she felt his as well. Her heart beat fast and steady.

"As long as we're together."


End file.
